ZimTrade eyes export markets for farmers
ZimTrade, Zimbabwe’s national export promotion body, says it is developing export clusters to integrate small scale farmers into the export business.
In an interview, ZimTrade chief executive Allan Majuru said the country was increasing engagements between local farmers and buyers in Europe and the United Kingdom, where focus was on market requirements.
“Horticulture exporters in Zimbabwe are facing capacity challenges in accessing the European Union market thus limiting their ability to realise full export growth opportunities,” Mr Majuru said.
“To address this challenge, ZimTrade is developing export clusters across the country where the target is also to integrate smallholder farmers into export business.
“By doing this, the country will increase the number of producers, which in turn will boost production.
“In the previous years, other horticulture farmers have also not been able to fully participate in exports due to market access requirements being imposed by the EU.
This has resulted in some farmers giving up on exports, closing, and others downsizing.” Zimbabwe’s horticulture sector is among the top five contributors to gross domestic product (GDP), behind tobacco, maize, and cotton, with huge potential to contribute to growth of Zimbabwe’s exports.
Zimbabwe has a diverse horticultural subsector and most of the producers are small scale farmers.
The growing global market for horticulture, in the form of fruits, nuts and vegetables, presents opportunities for Zimbabwean sector players to grow their exports.
Mr Majuru said as Zimbabwe intensified efforts to revive the economy, the agricultural sector was a low hanging fruit with potential to earn the much-needed foreign currency through export of quality horticultural produces.
With regards to market penetration, Zimbabwe has a reputation for being a source of quality horticultural products.
“In fact, there is a general appreciation in countries like the Netherlands where buyers say Zimbabwean products such as blueberries taste better compared to other countries,” said Mr Majuru.
Currently, typical cash crops being produced for the export market include temperate fruits (oranges, apples, pears, peaches, and nectarines), tropical fruits and vegetables (baby corn, butternut, citrus, chilli, gem squash, kiwi, lychee, mango, passion fruit, and pineapples), baby carrots, fine beans, cherry tomatoes, mange tout peas, melon, strawberries and sweet corn, as well as flowers.
The major markets for Zimbabwe’s horticultural exports are Netherlands, United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, France, China, Norway, Poland and Spain.
The United Kingdom is the second largest importer of Zimbabwean horticultural products and with the coming in of the United Kingdom Eastern and Southern Africa Economic Partnership Agreement, Britain has signalled its intention to strengthen bilateral trade relations.
The Government’s Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan is expected to stimulate export growth and boost production to meet to meet the growing demand for horticultural produce.
Currently, there is growing demand for organic foods among consumers, as more people are becoming health conscious and looking for products that are high in nutrients and low in calories.
“Consumers are becoming more aware of foods containing synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and are switching to organic foods, which is driving the market growth of organic farming that is devoid of the chemicals used in crops,” said Mr Majuru.-The Herald
